Two Old Foes
by Meeko-the-One-Armed-Dragon
Summary: Marcus McCloud, the son of Fox, is now the leader of Star Fox with the disappearance of Fox. Now, the Star Fox team is journeying across the Lylat system to save it from an army of nearly unbeatable enemies. But what does Fox have to do with this story?
1. Chapter 1: The Conference

_**Dragonmilk908: Well, I've been working on this story for a while, and now it's up on the computer! I hope you like it!**_

_**Fox: HEY!? How come…**_

_**Dragonmilk908: Shut up! Don't ruin it for the readers, Fox!**_

_**Falco: I DID NOT CRY DURING THE CONFRENCE. It was garlic.**_

_**Dragonmilk908: Really? Where was the garlic?**_

_**Falco: Well, it was…um…**_

_**Dragonmilk908: See? You were definitely…**_

_**Fox: Shut up! Don't ruin it for the readers, dragonmilk908!**_

_**Dragonmilk908: (Grumble) an author has too much to do these days. Anyway, I do not own Star Fox or any other related characters. Hope you enjoy the chapter!**_

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Chapter One: The Conference

"Now, I hereby present Marcus McCloud, son of Fox McCloud, the position of the leader of the Star Fox team for the rest of his days." General Peppy Hare came over and pinned a medal to Marcus's chest.

Stepping up to the microphone, Marcus cleared his throat. "Ahem, I, Marcus McCloud, do accept this humble invitation to be the leader of the Star Fox team. As a part of my duty, I will protect the Lylat system as if it was my own, defend the innocent and defeat the evil. Also, I will find out if my beloved father is alive, no matter the cost." Thunderous applause greeted this sentence.

Stepping off the stage, Marcus ushered a blue falcon on to the stage. "C'mon Falco, It's not that bad! All you do is speak a couple of sentences and that's it! It's not like the sky will fall."

Seeing Falco getting on the stage, General Peppy addressed him. "Now, Falco, what happened at Venom?"

Taking a deep breath, the blue falcon started. "September 21st, 29:67. We arrived at Venom with full shields and loaded weapons. Everything was in good shape, unlike the distress signal we got. We were just about to leave when a group of squadrons ambushed us. The ships weren't like anything we've seen and we couldn't see them that well; they moved at the speed of sound and they were heavily armed with tons of shields. Their firepower was formidable too; they could take out a Cornerian fighter with one hit. It was hard just to get a scratch on them!

"Anyway, there was only two squadrons a group to Slippy, Krystal, and me. I got out of there with a wing missing and the engine blowing smoke. I retreated to the edge of the battlefield, and soon joined by Slippy and Krystal. When we looked for Fox, we saw him still battling those squadrons. No wonder; he had to deal with ten of them! And to make matters worse, they probably were upgraded from the looks of it because you could only see blurs and every two hits could take out a squadron of fighters. In those conditions, Fox couldn't stay for long. We tried to help, but more of those squadrons blocked our way. For some reason I couldn't understand, they didn't fire.

"Then a charged shot hit the G-diffuser, and the entire Arwing went ca-put. After the Arwing crashed, the ships swarmed at the remains. Again, we tried to help, but they were like wild animals; they were practically growling at us and were preparing to attack. We couldn't risk our lives for the manner that no one would know what happened, so our best hope was that if we got back to Corneria in one piece, we could send out some armies to save Fox, if he's alive." Tears were visible at the edge of Falco's eyes. The audience could see he would say no more.

After the realization, people were whispering things like, "What a tragedy…" or "Can't believe this happened".

Peppy got their attention again. "Now, Krystal McCloud, do you have anything to add to Falco's statement?"

The blue vixen stepped on to the microphone. "I agree with Falco's story, but I did notice that their thought patterns were nothing I felt before; they seemed to be coming from the ships themselves."

Nodding with approval, General Peppy called to a frog wearing a red cap, which was currently weeping into Amanda's handkerchief. "Now, Slippy, notice any familiar structure of the machines?"

Slippy stopped weeping long enough to say, "They were m-m-moving to fast for m-m-me to see them well, but I saw that s-some of them looked like apariod-i-infected m-machines." The green frog broke down again.

Some of the audience winced, including Peppy. No sign of those bugs have been seen ever since Star Fox had defeated their queen, but if they found a new one…Marcus shivered with the audience.

Peppy got on stage. "Now, I have some good news. General Pepper has finally been released from the hospital…" there was a large cheer throughout the crowd. "And is with us right now!" Going to the sidelines, he ushered the old hound dog into the limelight.

The general of the Cornerian Army changed in twenty years. Pepper was just as old as Peppy, who was 77 years old, and had more wrinkles than a rotten raisin. The illness took away a lot of his strength and excess fat, so he had to be carried in a hover chair. (A wheelchair without any wheels.) Getting to the microphone after what seemed like ten hours, he spoke in an aged voice, "The citizens of the Lylat system, I am happy to say that after many years of being hospitalized, I will finally return to the command of the army, but unfortunately I am in no condition to getting onto the battlefield, so I will still have my friend Peppy stay at my side for assistance.

"However, I am very surprise of the disappearance of our Fox McCloud, but I know his son, Marcus McCloud, will surely fill the hole in our hearts, and the one in the Star Fox team." Everyone couldn't help clapping for the general.

Peppy stepped back up the microphone. "I hope you have a wonderful day. Conference ended."

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_**DM908: (Dragonmilk908) See? It wasn't that bad, guys? Slippy, get your weepin' head out of that tissue box.**_

_**Slippy: Sorry. (Sniff sniff) I just can't stop crying! (Bawls like a little baby)**_

_**Fox: And I still have complaints. Why do I have to be the one captured? Why not Slippy?**_

_**DM908: Because, your capture is an important element to the story. And besides, I like to make bad stuff to the main character.**_

_**Falco and Slippy: HEY! Does this mean we're not important?**_

_**DM908: Uh oh…uh…I have an important meeting now… gotta run!**_

_**Falco, Fox, and Slippy: YAAAHHHHHHHH!!! (Charges after DM908 yelling war cries)**_


	2. Chapter 2: Great Fox

_**DM908: Well, it's up! The SECOND CHAPTER!!! WOOOOOOOOO!**_

_**Marcus: (Oo) The second chapter's not that important.**_

_**DM908: Well, to me it is. Now get there into the story! And please do the disclaimer for me.**_

_**Marcus: (Sigh) Now, Star Fox…**_

_**Falco and Slippy: Ah-ha! We found you! Now time to payyyyyy!**_

_**DM908: Umm, can I say something first?**_

_**Falco and Slippy: Fine.**_

_**DM908: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! (Runs around screaming like a little girl)**_

_**Falco and Slippy: CHARGE! (Runs after DM908)**_

_**Marcus: (Sweat drop) Now, Star Fox belongs to Nintendo only, not dragonmilk908.**_

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Chapter Two: The Great Fox

Waiting for the Great Fox to land, Marcus turned to Slippy and asked, "Are you sure those squadrons looked like apariod-infected machines? I mean, how can you be sure of something if you can't see it that well?"

The green toad sighed. "Didn't I answer this at the conference?" Marcus shook his blue furry head. "Well, since the radar is basically SONAR waves detecting moving objects and with the help of the main computer, displaying them with symbols, so all I had to do was take the memory chip out and find the data from that day. When I put the data into the decoder and retrieve the information that hasn't been altered by the main computer, I traced the shape and saw the outline looked surprisingly similar to an..."

"It's here! Finally, the Great Fox is here!" Marcus pointed to the sky.

Indeed the Great Fox was here. Its red paint job reflected Solar like the light from a diamond and the steel glinted like stars in the night sky. Well, probably a long time ago, though. It has been so long since there was a successful mission that the Great Fox was is great disrepair. The engine gave off smoke, the wings were ready to fall off, and the missile and missile launcher were starting to get a bad case of oxygenation rusting. For the paint, it was peeling almost everywhere and some patches of it were fading.

Marcus whistled loudly. "We really need to get some credits; the Great Fox got really battered since we left it!"

Falco came to the launch pad. "Which was about three months ago, although you're right; it looks like it look a dip through Aquas and got stuck in Meteo on Meteor Shower Day."

"Funny, that's pretty much what happened, Falco." Everyone turned his or her heads to see Katt Monare walking out of the docking bay.

The pink cat brushed some of her bangs aside. "We had to go to Aquas to pick up Slippy's 49 kids, and then we ran into trouble on Solar because it looked like a certain robot forgot to activate the heat shield…"

"We even have a heat shield?" Marcus interrupted.

"…Anyway," Katt continued, ignoring Marcus, "After making it back into orbit, we visited Bill, which took awhile because the security guards mistook us for Andrew's troops.

"When we finally got to Bill and went to Meteo, we had one hell of a time getting out of there in one piece! You know why?" The group shook their heads. "It's because one of the idiots you call guards hit us with a magnetizing ray, and the section of Meteo we traveled through just _had_ to have lots of metal asteroids! But we managed to get through and here we are!"

Marcus had to ask after Katt finished her summary of what happened, "Okay, but then where are Slippy's 49 kids and Bill?"

"Right here, Marcus!"

Marcus turned around to see a stampede of green frogs running off the mother ship and Bill Grey.

"Marcus, it's been awhile since we saw each other, eh?" Bill said, ruffling his head a little. "You look like your pop. Say, where is he?"

All eyes that heard this went down. When he found his voice, Marcus said barely over a whisper, "He's been captured, Bill. On Venom. Possibly dead."

Bill made a motion that looked a lot like a rabbit being struck by lightning and a heart attack at the same time. "What?" His fur went pale. "T-that can't be…Fox would have never…"

Marcus got closer. "Even worse, we think he might have been captured by the apariods"

Bill practically fainted. "No, not them…Angler's troops are better than them…oh god." ROB brought a chair that the gray rabbit collapsed into.

ROB sighed the best he could in his monotone voice. "We really need some credits. The Great Fox is at 'fallen apart' and the damage percent is 99.9 repeating percent"

"Who cares?" Marcus asked, running up the docking bridge. "As long as the damage report isn't 'Dead' and the damage percent isn't 250, it's in sorta good shape to me!"

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When the Great Fox was in orbit, Marcus decided to explore the ship the ship, him being on only a few times.

_**(DM908: Beware! The following paragraphs are incredibly boring because it just describes the Great Fox's interior…unless you want to know the Great Fox inch by inch, skip this part. I'll tell you when the description is over. Falco and Slippy: YAAAAAAAAAHHHH! DM908: Bye!)**_

There were two sides to the Great Fox: the East Side and the West side. On the West Side were all of the member's rooms and a few guest rooms for guests.

In the south part of the West Side was the multi-purpose training/entertainment room. When in entertainment mode, it was a wall-to-wall plasma screen TV with a semi-circle couch in the middle that could rotate. In training mode, it became a room capable of holographic enemies, machines, temperature control, night and day scenario, planet-based geographic terrain, earthquake control feature, and many more. All of this was conveniently accessible from the control room. This room was used everyday to keep the team in shape.

On the East Side of the Great Fox were the Mess Hall, kitchen, and the mechanic room.

The Mess Hall was where the team ate, and the kitchen and the Mess Hall were separate for easy access to the engine room, located in the very rear of the ship. In the Mess Hall, there were tables, garage cans, and a food dispenser that could make any kind of food you wanted. Just type in the name and presto, you had your food!

The kitchen was emptier than a graveyard. The only time it was used when they needed to refill the supplies in the food dispenser or the power went out. Other than that, the inhabitants of the Great Fox stayed away from the kitchen every since Slippy claimed to see a ten-foot rat in there, eating some flour and dough.

The mechanic room was a little more interesting. It was so messy; you couldn't find a wrench, even if it was right at your feet. Once, a mechanic went in there to get a heat saw and came out with a cart filled to the brim with cogs, titanium metal scraps, plasma engines, laser cannons, batteries, (ROB looked longingly at them when the mechanic passed by) a heat saw, bolts, and more.

At the very front of the Great Fox were the cockpit and the weapon chamber. The cockpit had a short ledge with some staircases leading to it. On the lower elevation there were five seats facing a control board. On the wall above positioned so people on the lower and upper elevations could see it was the monitor/lookout/holographic projector/ship status reader/etc. Sadly though, this was also malfunctioning. It was rusting in the corners and it would sometimes switch to completely random location. (Like Star Wolf's shower. While Wolf was taking a shower.)

The weapon chamber held all of the team's weapons and gear. Also, it contained the Great Fox's missiles, which were made out of orange oxy-metal. (Researchers found that when compressed to a very high amount, oxygen because a nearly indestructible material and could detonate on contact with carbon monoxide.) Yet, even oxy-metal couldn't help but rusting a bit around the edges. There was a stairway for easy access to the docking bay in the weapon chamber.

At the very back was the engine room. There were built-in radars and engine statuses monitors on the walls and the engines ran off of garbage and other waste products. There were fish bones, banana peels, honey, remainders of cooked rabbits, (the team could never convince Peppy to eat a rabbit; the ancient hare kept on saying, "Why would I eat my own kind?") and other things. Of course, the constant 'Warning!' sound of the monitors got annoying too.

_**(DM908: (Huff puff) Now the description is over. Have a nice rest of the story…oh no! (Runs away again from Falco and Slippy who are still chasing him/her))**_

Marcus finished walking around the Great Fox. He didn't feel like talking to anybody at the moment. He could think of only one thing to do.

Walking down the stairs to the docking bay, Marcus sat in front of the first launching pad, which was empty, the blue fox sighed, thinking about his dad…

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_**DM908: MARCUS! Can you give me a hand please?**_

_**Marcus: For what?**_

_**DM908: (Points a thumb towards Slippy and Falco, who were still chasing him) That.**_

_**Marcus: Fine. (Walks towards Falco and Slippy) Guys, can you stop it?**_

_**Falco and Slippy: Why?**_

_**Marcus: Because you've been running for the entire chapter!**_

_**Falco and Marcus: Fine. (Collapses on the floor)**_

_**DM908: Thanks Marcus. I owe you one.**_

_**Marcus: How about including Dad in the next chapter?**_

_**DM908: So you have wished it, so shall it be.**_

_**Marcus: And why is this a tragedy?**_

_**DM908: Let's just say there are more deaths than you think. (Wink wink)**_

_**Marcus: Like…**_

_**DM908: Shhhh! Now's it's time to go!**_

_**Marcus: Awwwwww…**_


	3. Chapter 3: The Message

_**DM908: So, who wants ice cream?**_

_**Falco and Slippy: Me!**_

_**Marcus: Hey, what about including Dad in this chappy?**_

_**DM908: I will Marcus don't worry, but it's still going to be downright hard to guess where your pop is.**_

_**Marcus: Aww…then I'll call Richard Moore! (Grabs a cell phone)**_

_**DM908: Whoa…how do you know his number?**_

_**Marcus: I shall never tell! Unless of course, you tell me who's gonna die and where Dad is…(evil laugh)**_

_**DM908: Fine, I'll give you a riddle. **_

_**The people who will die are close friends,**_

_**Only one shall survive the enemy.**_

_**For your dad at least, well let's just say**_

_**He's with two old foes.**_

_**Marcus: You mean everyone I know will die except for one?**_

_**DM908: Well, most people, but no more spoilers! Wait until the last few chapters!**_

_**Marcus: Aw man…**_

_**DM908: Now, I do not own Star Fox or any other things from Star Fox. If I did, it would have a lot more dragons in it.**_

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Chapter Three: The Message

Waves crashed against the rocks of Venom, wearing away the rock into sand. On top of a cliff was the abandoned castle of Andross, the first invader of the Lylat system.

Deep in the basement was a dungeon. All of the cells were empty except for the one in the far back. There were no windows, no light. The prisoner was in good shape, well fed and no physical wounds, yet the prisoner was moaning like there was a great ache inside of him.

The cell door opened, and a twisted figure with dull, yellow eyes walked in. Putting a tray full of gourmet food down, it put its hand on the other's forehead. "Are you having nightmares again? Don't worry, it'll all be over soon…very soon…" An infection appeared for a moment, and then disappeared, going straight into the prisoner's mind.

The twisted figure smiled. It reared back its head and let out a laugh that chilled the blood of all who heard it.

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Marcus woke up with a pant. Reaching up to feel his forehead, he felt instant relief when he left the soft fur.

Safe…but what a dream! Marcus thought, rubbing the remains of sleep from his eyes. Why was it like I was a prisoner and why Andross's castle in Venom? Getting up, he dressed up with his father's vest and long-sleeved shirt, complete with the belt and green pants. I'll ask Mom about it later, but first I gotta eat breakers. No one can think on an empty stomach!

Going to the mess hall, he ordered a crop of pancakes and some orange juice and sat down at the Star Fox table. To his surprise, he saw that Slippy and Krystal were still here.

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked, digging in to his pancakes. "Weren't you guys going to stay in Corneria?"

"Well, that's what we planned, but General Pepper called and said that there's a new threat to the Lylat system," Krystal said, eating a mouthful of celery. "They have already destroyed ten bases on three planets, and they just started yesterday night."

The blue fox dropped his spoon. "What!? The only thing possible that could do that has to be god enough to…oh no."

His mom nodded. "Yes, we're afraid it's the squadrons that ambushed us at Venom. It's the only possible thing."

Swallowing his pancakes, Marcus said, "Speaking of Venom, I had a dream that I was a prisoner at Andross's castle and a twisted figure came and infected my mind. Any idea why that happened?"

The lines on Krystal's forehead furrowed. "The only reasons I can think of is that you either have a mental connection with the prisoner or that it's a warning that something will happen concerning that person." Dipping the celery stick into peanut butter, she added, "It could also be the combination of both, but I doubt it."

"Me too."

Then General Pepper's voice boomed over the loudspeaker. "Star Fox, will you please go to the cockpit. I have a very urgent announcement for you. Repeat, Star Fo…"

All of a sudden, his voice cut off and Wolf O'Donnell took its place. "Yes, I would like a triple rabbit meat hamburger with some fries…yes, pickles included, not the chili hybrids…Hey! Stop recording what I'm saying!"

Then it switched back to Pepper. "Thank you and have a nice day."

Everyone looked like this for a moment: Oo until Marcus said, "Stupid communicator…oh well. Star Fox team, to the cockpit!"

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Facing the communicator, Marcus asked, "What's so important that you had to interrupt our meal, Pepper?"

General Pepper was still in his hospital nightgown. "Well, I have just received a message from the head commander of the new threat. I'll show you it now."

There were a few clicks, and the message appeared on screen. It showed a twisted figure on the throne. Marcus gasped. "That's the figure I saw!" Krystal covered his mouth.

The figure's voice was like two dead skeletons trying to sing. "Hello General Pepper. I am the commander of the forces that are invading the Lylat system. As you already know, we have taken out ten bases on three planets, and we except more to come. Mind you, this is just so I can give directions so the Star Fox team will know what to expect.

"Tell them to go to the training room. I'll contact you again there."

The message closed and General Pepper appeared back on screen. "You know what to do now, don't you? I command you to get to the training room and train until the commander contacts us again!"

The members of the Star Fox team all did a smart salute. "Yes sir!"

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"Now, before we go in, Falco, are you sure the mechanical problem team A10 fixed the room?" Marcus asked, leaning against a wall. "I want to make sure the weapons don't blow up in our face again."

Falco did another smart salute. "Yes sir, it's fixed. Tested it myself, don't cha know?"

The blue fox winced as he remembered the last time the training room failed on them. "That's what you said last time and the time before last and the time before that!"

Falco argued. "This time I checked with the team in the control room. They reported no bugs."

Marcus grumbled, "Fine, but if even one weapon blows a cog, I'm never trusting your word again."

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"Ready team?" Marcus asked, readying his blaster. "Charlie, do plan AP10089."

"Affirmative." The golden receiver typed in a few numbers, and all of a sudden they were on Venom with hordes of apariods surrounding them.

Falco leaned closer to Marcus. "Apariods? Why not Angler's squadrons?"

Marcus replied, "I just have a feeling this war has something to do with the apariods, okay?"

"Fine."

"Now let's move!" Charging up his blaster to power level 3, he shot it at the tank-like apariods.

Krystal took out some of the basic apariods with a gatling gun, Slippy took care of the air ones by the Landmaster and Falco shot down some wall-clingers. Then, after Falco destroyed one on the ruins of a Venomian temple, the holograms disappeared.

Slippy looked worried. "Falco, did you hit the holographic simulator?"

The blue bird shook his head. "No, I hit the opposite side of the room."

Charlie spoke into the room's microphone. "They're something wrong with the system team! It looks like someone is hacking in!"

Then a hologram appeared with the figure still on its throne. "Hello Star Fox. I hope you were having a good training session, hmm?"

Marcus shook his fist at him. "You again! What do you want now? We're in the training room!"

It chucked. "I have something to tell you, something vital. Something that concerns your dad, Marcus."

Marcus staggered like someone stabbed him in the leg. "W-What? What did you say?"

"Listen, My forces will take over the Lylat system in about a year unless you come to save each planet you come across. Come to Venom, and if you liberate every planet in the system, I'll tell you where Fox McCloud is.

"You better hurry; some planets are on the brink of being captured." The screen flicked off.

The team turned to Marcus. Falco said, "So leader, what do we do now?"

Marcus turned towards the cockpit with a glint in his eye. "I say Star Fox team, we have a system to save."

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_**DM908: There! Chapter three finished under twenty-four hours! I rock!**_

_**Marcus: Yeah, but I don't see where my dad is! You said you'd include him in this chapter!**_

_**DM908: I did Marcus. But I won't say where.**_

_**Marcus: Then I'll call Jimmy Kudo! (Grabs a phone)**_

_**DM908: I gave you the riddle already! Now you have to figure this out on your own.**_

_**Marcus: Fine, but do you promise to include my dad in the last few chapters?**_

_**DM908: I pinky-swear!**_

_**Falco and Slippy: Hey! What about us?**_

_**DM908: Have some nice ice cream?**_

_**Falco and Slippy: Yup!**_

_**Marcus: Hey! I what some ice cream too!**_

_**DM908: Go and get some then! I'm going out to eat lunch.**_

_**Falco, Marcus, and Slippy: Bye!**_

_**DM908: Bye!**_


	4. Chapter 4: Invasion of the Orbital Gate

_**DM908: Hi guys! Guess what?**_

_**Falco, Marcus, and Slippy: What?**_

_**DM9098: I decided to invite the "twisted figure", or the TF in the disclaimer, to come over!**_

_**Falco, Marcus, and Slippy: WHAT!? YOU INVITED THE ENEMY TO THE DISCALIMER!?**_

_**DM908: Yeah, is that a problem?**_

_**TF: I don't think so; do you three have anything to say about it?**_

_**Falco and Slippy: (With a hypnotized look on their faces) No we don't, twisted figure.**_

_**Marcus: (Looks at Falco and Slippy) What did you do to them? And how come I'm not affected?**_

_**TF: Well, I'll just say you have something that's vital to the ending to the ending of this fanfiction.**_

_**Marcus: Okay, but will you step out of those dark corners? You're making me suspicious.**_

_**TF: You should be, but I'll do it for your sake. (Steps out of the dark corner)**_

_**Falco, Marcus, and Slippy: What the!? You're…**_

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Chapter Four: Invasion of the Orbital Gate

Marcus went over to ROB who was scanning the Lylat system for damage percentages. "So ROB, which planet has the most damage reports?"

The robot did a quick check and reported, "Scans show that the planet that has the most damage reports is…Corneria. 45 of enemy forces found"

"Typical," Marcus grumbled, going over where the other members were waiting. "ROB, contact the Orbital Gate. We're going back home, guys."

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At Venom in Andross's castle, the twisted figure was still in its throne. A servant stepped up to it. Bowing down, he said, "Sir, the Star Fox team is headed towards Corneria, just as you planned, but they're taking the Orbital Gate and will get there much quicker than anticipated. If they succeed in taking out our forces there, our army will be reduced 45 in size!"

The figure smiled. "I planned this all out, commander. I have sent my forces to the Orbital Gate to keep them busy. I have also set a bomb in one of them so when they shoot the squadron, it will explode and destroy the gate temperately. They will have to travel to Corneria by ship, and forces will be there to intercept them. When they finally get to Corneria, our secret weapon will be complete."

The commander started to walk away, but then stopped himself and asked, "When will we prepare the prisoner, sir?"

"Now, commander. Bring him up here."

The commander brought in the prisoner a few minutes later. Throwing him on to the ground, he asked, "Will you do it sir, or should we?"

The figure on the throne ushered him closer. Whispering in his ear, he said, "Listen, this is very secret. I will prepare the prisoner, but you and your elite officers must prepare the setting for the mutation. Use the rotational adjuster to keep it forever night. If even one nanosecond of daylight appears, the mutation will be broken. And you know what that means for your life, right?"

The commander gulped. "Y-yes sir."

"Good. Leave me alone and send Venom into forever darkness. I will tell you when it's okay to set the rotation back to normal."

"Yes sir," the commander said, rushing out of the room.

The figure stepped over to the prisoner, who struggled to move and mustered out some words. "You won't get away with this…my son…"

The figured kicked him hard. "Quiet! Even your son can't defeat the might of the two greatest enemies of the Lylat system working together. Especially with what I plan to use your body for." Forming a shell around the prisoner and infecting it so it looked like a giant organ, it said, "Good night…forever."

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"Finally! We made to the Orbital Gate!" Marcus said, heading his Arwing to the warp. "Slippy, why has the gate moved from Corneria's orbit again?"

"They did it so it would be less hassle for us," Slippy said, contacting the officers on the ship. "The officers say that all of the systems are online; they're prepare for the warp right now."

Then Marcus saw a large force of enemies headed towards the gate on his radar. "Guys, do you see the enemy force closing in?"

"Nope."

"Sorry."

"Not one!"

"Negative. Radar scans show nothing."

They why mine? Marcus asked himself, looking at the radar. "Guys, then just shoot to the surrounding area of the gate!"

Somebody shot a nova bomb, and an explosion appeared, destroying a few of the squadrons.

Krystal gasped. "I feel them now! It's the squadrons from the Venom ambush!"

The others all said, "What!?" at the exact same time.

Marcus asked, "T-that means that Venom is launching another attack into the Lylat system?"

His mom looked grave. "I'm afraid so."

Marcus then took control of the situation. "Team, Krystal and I will shoot down the undetectable squadrons. Falco and Slippy, I saw that the missiles are visible, so you take out those." Everyone moved into position.

."Ready Star Fox?" Marcus asked, looking more like his dad every second. "Let's move!"

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The twisted figure stepped off of his throne and over to the organ. Touching it, it said, "Are you still in there?" There was a weak moan in reply. The figure in the organism looked like a wolf and a dragon hybrid.

"Don't worry, the mutation will be over in one week. Then the pain will be gone and your body will be ready for my uses." Then the figure outside the organism sat down while touching the "egg". "But first I must prepare your mind too for the mutation. In order to do that, I must take control of it" Then it disappeared and the figure in the egg let out a silent scream, pouring all of its pain and misery into it like the-beginning-of-war cry.

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Marcus wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. It was just as hard as Falco described to destroy even one of them. They could barely be seen and their shots took away a good chunk of the ship's shields. This was worse because Krystal and he had to destroy anyone that came their way because Krystal and his job were to protect Falco and Slippy from being destroyed while they destroyed the missiles.

Pulling the trigger and doing a quick barrel roll to avoid being destroyed, his mind still pondered how his radar detected the squadrons but the others didn't. Marcus came up with two possibilities: either Slippy upgraded his Arwing but the others didn't or he was at an unprotected radar-jamming area. There was a third idea that he kept on pushing away; that his vision affected his telepathy powers and was able to affect his radar. But that was near impossible he thought, swerving to avoid being hit by the squadrons and shooting a charged shot and locking on. Then, when he let go of the trigger and it hit, time seemed to slow down.

All of a (slow) sudden, the shop started to explode with such force that the Arwings' G-Diffusers started to overload. The Orbital Gate's shields were failing, and at some places the oxy-metal was peeling away. Meteors, scraps, and squadrons alike were blown away as the explosion destroyed the Orbital Gate.

When the smoke cleared, everyone gasped. The Orbital Gate was destroyed, molecule-by-molecule.

After everyone digested the information, Falco broke the silence. "What the hell happened? I was blasting away at a missile, and all of a sudden the plkace goes ka-boom!"

Marcus mustered up the courage to say, "There was probably a bomb planted in one of the squadrons. I shot it which set it off and the bomb must have destroyed the entire gate."

Heading back towards the Great Fox, Marcus wearily said, "Guys, I hate to break it to you, but we're gonna have to get to Corneria by the Great Fox. That'll take at least five days."

Falco then noticed something. "Uh, where did the squadrons go?"

The rest of the team looked around and saw nothing. Marcus realized what happened. "They all retreated! They must of came here just to destroy the Orbital Gate! But why would they do it?" He left to let everyone ponder this question.

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The commander came back. Bowing to the egg, he said, "Sir, the mission was a success. They're going to Corneria by the Great Fox."

The figure opened its eyes. The twisted figure's voice came out of its mouth. "Good. Tell the troops to go to intercept their path for two days. By then, I'll be in complete control of this body."

_**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**_

_**Marcus: What!? You're making us go over to Corneria in the Great Fox!? Do you know how much that place stinks?**_

_**DM908: Yes I know. I should because I designed it pretty much.**_

_**Marcus: Will I have another vision soon, dragonmilk908?**_

_**DM908: Yes, you'll have a vision in the next chapter.**_

_**Falco and Slippy: (Still have a hypnotized look in their eyes) The twisted figure's plan is…**_

_**TF: (Comes out and covers their mouths) Shut it! Become normal!**_

_**Falco and Slippy: (Snaps out of being hypnotized) Huh? What were we doing up to now?**_

_**Marcus and DM908: Just about to tell us the TF's plan. It's a sacred rule that any spoilers not be mentioned inside the fanfiction.**_

_**Marcus: So, are you excited about the next two chapters?**_

_**DM908: Yup! In chapter six, the secret weapon will be revealed.**_

_**Marcus: And we never got to finish our sentence in the beginning. Falco, Slippy, hit it!**_

_**Falco, Marcus, and Slippy: What the!? You're…**_

_**DM908: (Punches all three of them in the face hard) NOBODY SAYS ANY SPOILERS IN THE FANFICTION!!!!! IT'S AN ENFORCED RULE!!!**_

_**TF: I also can't wait until chapter six! That's when the mutated…**_

_**DM908: (Knocks out TF) YOU TOO!!!!!!**_


	5. Chapter 5: The Two Day Battle

_**DM908: Uh, Marcus? Are you awake yet?**_

_**Marcus: Uhh…yeah, I'm okay. But why did you slap me that hard? You could have given me a broken jaw!**_

_**DM908: Sorry, I didn't want you to tell the reader what the true identity of the twisted figure is.**_

_**Marcus: Oh. That's okay. Now, one more chapter until chapter six, right?**_

_**DM908: Yeah, but in order to get more reviews; I decided that chapter six will be put up when there's seven reviews in total. So people better start reviewing!**_

_**TF: So, am I in this chapter?**_

_**DM908: Of course! From now until the end of the fanfiction, you'll be in the disclaimer and the story. I mean you are the villain.**_

_**TF: True…**_

_**Falco and Slippy: Hi guys!**_

_**DM908, Marcus, and TF: Hi guys!**_

_**Falco and Slippy: (Crowds around DM908) Why did you slap us last chapter?**_

_**DM908: Well, I didn't want you to give out any spoilers, ya know…**_

_**Falco and Slippy: THIS MEANS WAR!!!!! YAHHHHH! (Chases DM908 again)**_

_**Marcus: (Stops DM908) Hey, why hasn't my dad been here since chapter two?**_

_**DM908: Oh! Well, it relates to the plot, okay?**_

_**Marcus: Okay…and you still have to give me another vision in this chapter, remember?**_

_**DM908: Of course! Why wouldn't I forgot; I mean, I am the author.**_

_**Marcus: Okay, just as long as you keep your promise.**_

_**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**_

Chapter Five: The Two-Day Battle

Marcus woke up in a gel-filled egg, only it felt like it was an organ; it was beating and living and he could sense that the egg was alive. _Must be one of my visions_, Marcus thought.

Then he looked around and saw two furry hands with three fingers and a thumb and crystal-like spikes on every finger and a large spike on the back of his hand. He moved them. They were his hands! Looking over the body, he saw two wings, an armor-plated underside, canine-like legs with finger-like toes and claws, and a dragon tail tipped with white. The body was also extremely fuzzy.

_What the heck_, Marcus thought, and then he started feeling dizzy. _It feels_ _like…something else is in my head, trying to take control…_he started to black out with his thoughts. _No…_ His world went black and a voice said in his mind, _you cannot resist_ _…give in…sleep forever…_

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Marcus woke up again all of a sudden. His head still felt slightly dizzy, but he could move and his body was normal. _Wow, another vision_, he thought, sitting up and letting his head clear by itself. _What viewpoint was it from this time?_ Marcus felt relived when his head cleared. _Someone that I am mentally connected too and is the center of an important event…must be the same person from my past vision! But who_ _could it be?_ Also pondering this question, he went out to breakfast. _Three days on the_ _road and only two days to go, I doubt anything can happen now._

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Getting to the mess hall, he sat by the team again. Picking up a vegetable stick and gnawing on it, Marcus asked his mom, "Mom, I had another vision. This time it looked like I was in a different body than before and the body was in an organ-like egg with another…thing in its mind, but I was thinking it was probably the same person. Do you have any idea why this happened?"

Krystal stopped chewing on her asparagus to tell her son, "We Cerinians usually have reoccurring visions that center around the same people. Usually we have three visions that are linked to that person, but even I do not know how anyone could have changed the appearance of someone greatly or how to control one's mind; those activities were banned from our world."

Marcus nodded. "Okay. But maybe it had to do something with the egg…"

He was interrupted by an officer up in the cockpit shouting into the ship's microphone, "Star Fox team, please report to the cockpit! A hundred squadrons detected on radar! Repeat, a hundred squadrons spotted on radar! Over."

"I spoke too soon," Marcus grumbled, getting up. "Star Fox, to the cockpit!"

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General Pepper was once again on the monitor when the team got to the cockpit. "Hello team. How was your meal?"

"Good."

"Nice"

"It was okay."

"Delicious."

"Good, now we have not only are we overrun with squadrons at every planet in the Lylat system, we got another message from the head commander. I'll broadcast to you now." The hound dog switched to the video.

This time the figure had a slightly different appearance. This time he looked like a lumpy egg, but it was dark so nobody could tell. "Hello, General Pepper. I have called to tell you an interesting piece of information. I have sent a force of hundred squadrons to Meteo to keep your mercenaries busy for a while. In the next four days, when Star Fox comes to Corneria, I will show my true form. You better forward this message to Star Fox now." The video ended.

General Pepper popped back up. "So team, do you have it? Did you encounter a force of a hundred squadrons yet?"

Falco couldn't help but replying, "Duh! We ran all the way from the Mess Hall to here because we were going to get our mission briefing!"

"Okay then, you have a hundred squadrons to deal with. They are the ones you have encountered at the Orbital Gate. You must rid the Asteroid Field of every one of them before four days are over; we cannot face the commander alone."

"We also already knew that," Falco said quite bluntly. "What would you do without us?"

"Got it Star Fox? General Pepper out."

Marcus ran to the docking bay. "We better hurry; with that many squadrons and the fact that it's those squadrons and we only have under four days to destroy every last one of them, we can't lose a single minute!"

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Pulling the trigger back and doing a back flip, Marcus barely dodged laser fire from three squadrons chasing him. Maneuvering behind them, he locked on with a charged shot and destroyed them. Contacting ROB, Marcus reported, "ROB, this is Marcus reporting that three more squadrons are down. How many are left?"

"Eighty-seven squadrons still remaining."

"God, damn it," Marcus cursed silently to himself. "We've been fighting these guys for twelve hours; it'll take us five days at this rate!"

"Don't worry; reinforcements have arrived!" Everyone turned around to see General Pepper with two hundred ships at his backs. "We couldn't just let you fight this battle by yourself, now could we?"

You could see Marcus was surprised and confused at the same time. "But how…why…what the heck? How did you get here that quickly without a warp?

"We just took the emergency warp over; it would have taken too long if we got here by ship."

Doing a barrel roll and shooting a nova bomb that destroyed a group of squadrons, Marcus replied, "Okay, and thanks. It'll take only two days with your help!"

"Squadrons, move out!" General Peppy and Pepper called out at the same time.

The Cornerian fighters spread out and started fighting the enemy with the Star Fox team.

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The commander was watching the battle with using a camera planted on a squadron at Venom. Rushing to the throne room, he said to the egg, "Master, General Pepper and General Peppy have come with reinforcements of 200 squadrons; our army will only stand two days with that kind of force."

The figure inside of the egg opened its eyes again and said, "Don't worry; I want them to win the battle in two days; it'll take two more days to get to Corneria and then I'll strike." Closing its eyes again, the figure slept.

The commander closed the door, murmuring, "I hope you're right master."

_Have I ever been wrong, commander?_ The figure's voice sounded in his mind.

The commander stumbled with his words. "N-no master. You have never failed us so far."

_Good._

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Marcus looked at his clock for the twenty-seventh time. "36 hours have already passed, and the forces are at thirteen squadrons total. No reinforcements have been sighted." Doing a U-turn and pulling the trigger, he destroyed another squadron. "Make that twelve squadrons left."

Then there was a first. All of the remaining squadrons banded together and formed to make a giant ship. Then there was a bright flash of light and there in it's place stood a mega-squadron.

Slippy pointed to it unbelievably. "How did it do that? No ship I have ever saw could merge together to create a new squadron!"

Marcus nodded. "I agree Slippy; that thing is unbelievable, but now there's only one squadrons instead of twelve, so if we destroy this one, we get to move on!"

Falco contacted Marcus. "Uh, somehow I think that going to be easier said than done. That thing moves at hyper speed and with homing missiles to boot, we're going to need a miracle to save us from this thing."

Marcus contacted Slippy now. "Slippy, how high is the squadron's shields?"

Slippy scanned the ship. "Approximately just as high as the Great Fox itself."

Marcus whistled and punched the keyboard at the same time. "Damn it! And we have to make the eleven hour and fifty-seven deadline, otherwise we won't make it in time to Corneria!"

Falco raised an eyebrow. "You were counting?"

Marcus blushed under his fur. "Uh…yeah."

Getting back on task, Marcus led the army to the squadrons. "Star Fox Team and Cornerian Army, come in."

"Falco here"

"Slippy here"

"Krystal here."

"Cornerian Army here with a force of one-hundred and eighty-two."

The leader of Star Fox nodded with approval. "Good. Now let's move!"

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Aiming a charged shot at the mega-squadron, Falco found that regular shots wouldn't work on it. Contacting everyone in contact range, Falco said, "Falco here. I found that regular attacks won't work on this thing; we're going to have to bring out the big guns!"

Four Cornerian Fighters carried a heavy plasma tri-laser-burst cannon. General Peppy asked, "This big enough for you, Falco?"

Falco looked at the most devastating weapon created in the Lylat system. "Uh…yeah, that's heavy enough."

Peppy gave the signal. "Ready, aim, FIRE!" The sound of ten infinity watts buzzed as it hit the core of the squadron, and there was a big explosion.

Slippy couldn't help but do a victory dance. "Yahoo! We did it!"

Krystal frowned. "It's not over yet, Slippy. Look past the smoke!"

Everyone did, and what they found was that the mega-squadron split back into twelve squadrons and thus avoided the attack.

Slippy nearly fainted. "That's the first time I saw anything do that! And avoid the plasma tri-laser-burst cannon too!"

Falco nodded. "I know! When you see something that no one else has done before, it sort of…shocks you."

Marcus interrupted them. "Then we're going have to destroy every last squadron. "Okay team, hunt and destroy every last one of them!"

Marcus zoomed off to find a couple of squadrons when he found them going after a battle ship. Contacting everyone in range, he said, "Marcus here at 10 N, 16 E. Found targets going after our battleship. Calling for support." Just like magic, about 50 Cornerian Fighters appeared behind Marcus. "Okay then, 75 of you go destroy the ones hitting the engines. The rest of you, come with me. We're attacking the leaders of this force."

Boosting up to the front of the ship, he saw two bigger squadrons pausing, and Marcus felt that they were issuing orders to the rest of the force. "There they are! Hit them nice and hard, guys!"

The leaders turned around and saw the band of Cornerian Fighters charging at them. Giving out final orders, they came into the fray too.

Marcus went after one of them. Boosting up to catch up, he found to his surprise that it had disappeared. Looking around, he thought _Where did it go to?_

Then he looked behind his Arwing and saw that the leader had appeared right behind him and was hammering at his engine. Doing a quick loop, he fired at the squadron and scored two direct hits.

With surprising speed, the leader also did a loop and hit Marcus, who luckily did a barrel roll and was able to knock off half of the damage. Even that couldn't save him from the fact that his Arwing was so damaged that one more hit could destroy it.

Time seemed to slow down once again. The squadron was charging up, bits of plasma turning into a ball of swirling laser fire. Marcus was certain that if the squadron had facial features, it would of smirked.

His head was cracking from the pressure. He was sure that his head was going to explode if he kept this…something at bay for any longer. It was pushing and beating and tore down more and more of his mental walls built to keep it in.

The squadron fired the shot and it came closer and closer, and the nearer it got the more Marcus's head hurt, and when it was so close that the Arwing was bathed in its light, there was a bright flash of light as the pressure inside of his mind gave way and it ran wild. But all he could see was a screen of white and then he was falling into darkness that seemed to protect him from the outside world…from the terror that came from his mind…

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Marcus landed with a thunk inside of his mind. Opening his eyes, he saw what seemed like the remains of a battle. Walls were broken, the ground was filled with craters, and everything was blown away.

Going over to the center of his mind, he saw a cracked container-like object. From the looks of it, the container held something forbidden and powerful. He made the inference that it was the pressure that was contained in there.

Going even deeper, he found things not even touched, things that held ancient secrets. It grew darker and darker until it was too dark to even see. Using his sense of touch, Marcus was able to navigate without disturbing anything else.

Then a voice came out to him. _Marcus_, it said, coming closer. _Welcome._

_Welcome to what?_ Marcus asked with his mind, trying to sense what was talking to him.

_Welcome to the deepest part of your mind, so deep, not even your mother could feel it. Here, I must tell you something regarding the incident at Meteo._

_The incident?_ Then he remembered everything: the ambush, the fusion, the laser, the leader, the white screen…_What happened then?_

_Listen, there is a power hidden inside specific Cerinians, the planet your mother came from. It is a power difficult to control, nearly impossible to master. It is sealed at the center of one's mind so none can access it._

_Yet it can be unleashed by extreme anger or stress. Remember what happened before that flash of light appeared?_

_Yeah. There was a lot of pressure inside my head and it felt like my head would explode._

_You knew you were going to die and so the stress you felt destroyed the container containing the power and when you still tried to hold it back, it got even more powerful with the stress you were feeling by holding it back and the fact you were about to die._

_So then…what happened?_

_You should really thank that power. It managed to destroy all of the squadrons in the surrounding are that included the leaders of the ambush. But everything comes with a price; after the flash only fifty Cornerian fighters and your friends barely survived the blast._

Marcus's forehead furrowed in worry. _How are they now?_

_They are safe. Slippy is repairing the Arwings and the others are in the room where your body is, deeply concerned._

_Thank you,_ Marcus "said", turning to leave.

_Good-bye, little one._

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Marcus opened his eyes to see that, as the darkness said, his friends around him who breathed a sigh of relief as they saw he saw okay.

"Marcus, you're okay!" Slippy said, bouncing over. "We were worried that you wouldn't have survived the blast!"

Falco said to him, "I don't want to lose another leader."

Krystal came over. "Marcus, are you okay? Is there something wrong?"

Marcus, realizing he was looking down into his lap with a thoughtful expression on his face, quickly snapped out of it and said, "Nope. Nothing at all." Krystal, being a mother and all, did not pursue the subject but her face looked like she wanted to.

Looking outside the window of his room, he thought, _This power might be useful in defeating this new threat, but it'll be though to master it. I always did like a good challenge though!_

The Great Fox's engines hummed as it continued its course to Corneria.

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_**DM908: Like it, Marcus? Now you have a special ability!**_

_**Marcus: It's pretty cool; I'll admit that. (Looks around) Hey, where's Falco and Slippy?**_

_**DM908: I did a little something so they wouldn't chase me anymore.**_

_**Marcus: Let me guess; you threatened to destroy them with the coming of another white flash of light.**_

_**DM908: Ding ding ding! You win the million-dollar question! But how did you know?**_

_**Marcus: I have my ways…heh heh heh…**_

_**DM908: Well anyway, next chapter's chapter six! Better bring a drum!**_

_**Marcus: For what?**_

_**DM908: Drum rolls of course! Anyway, see ya next chapter!**_

_**Marcus: See ya!**_


	6. Chapter 6: The Secret Weapon

_**DM908: Ahh! Ahh! Oh my god! Oh my god!**_

_**Marcus: What's so OMG? And why did you say it twice? Don't you usually say it only once?**_

_**DM908: Actually, I said it twice because there's two reasons I'm screaming. Reason one is that's it's the chapter we've all been waiting for, and the second…**_

_**Marcus: I'm listening.**_

_**DM908: I've realized that I've haven't been doing the disclaimer lately! I've been so busy talking here that I've been neglecting my duty here! (Sob sob)**_

_**TF: So? I do that all of the time.**_

_**DM908: Yeah, but you're not the author of a fanfiction! (Sob sob again)**_

_**Marcus: (Looks at TF) Oh, and isn't this the chapter we figure out what you really are?**_

_**TF: Yes, and it's also the time when…**_

_**DM908: (Suddenly revives and gags TF) Shush! No spoilers! Ever!**_

_**TF: Mfff! Mm mmff mmfff!**_

_**DM908: (Looks at muffler decoder) You want to be kicked?**_

_**TF: Mmmmffffff!**_

_**DM908: Oh: you want to be kicked in the shin. Okay. (Kicks TF in the shin)**_

_**TF: MMMMMMMMMFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!!!!!!**_

_**DM908: Oh, you said you got it! Why didn't you just say so?**_

_**TF: (Sweat drop)**_

_**DM908: Now, Star Fox and other related characters belong to Nintendo. Copyright 1995-2007. All rights reversed.**_

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Chapter 6: The Secret Weapon

It was quiet in Venom. Nothing in the landscape moved; not even the creatures that lived there. The moon hung as an eerie sight above the barren land, seeming to be a eye that gazed onto the world, hoping one thing shall move. It was complete silence all over Venom with neither beings nor any other life there moving.

The door to the abandoned castle opened with a creak, disrupting the silence. The commander walked in, looking nervous. Going over to the egg, he stopped in front of it. "Master, it has been a week. It is time."

"I was already preparing," the figure said. Opening its eyes for the first time since the battle. This time the figure was bigger, nearly filling up the mass of the entire egg. "Stand back, commander; you might get hurt." The commander did as told, running back to the farthest corner of the room.

He watched with increasing anxiety as the figure moved a bit, and then one hand pulled back and punched through the shell like it was nothing but paper. The other hand soon followed with the same effort.

With gel oozing out of the sides, the two gray hands with blue spikes on the knuckles and back of his hand pulled the main body out of the egg. The body had a broad chest and lean stomach, although he seemed well fed. His neck attached the head to the body, which resembled a wolf's except that it had three spikes connected to each other by a thin layer of toughed cartilage on either side of his head. He smiled, and rows of countless dagger-sharp teeth were shown, gleaming white in the dim light.

Running down from his head was a column of hardened scales forming smooth and nearly impenetrable underbelly armor than reached from his neck to the tip of his tail, which had a massive arrowhead on its tip. His legs were canine-like and the feet resembled that of a dinosaur's. Wings also extended from the body, large enough to carry a train across the ocean yet thin enough that you could see through the membrane. The entire body was covered in pure muscle and calluses were visible almost everywhere.

The commander gasped. "H-how did you do this?"

The creature smiled and pulled himself out of the egg. As the gel started to dry, he said, "I happened to pick this up at Sauria, I'll just say. Also, you may now call me Py-Kal Vah. It'll sound more business-like in the future."

The commander nodded his agreement, and then launched a question. "Agreed sir, but how do we get to Corneria in two minutes? Our teleport generators are broken; all we have are three members of the Elite Force; and the Star Fox team has already arrived in Corneria.

Py-Kal Vah walked towards a door in the south. "Don't worry; I have it all figured out. This body is much more powerful than you think, commander. Now bring me over to the launch spot."

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The commander led Py-Kal Vah over to an open patch of land in the Venomian Desert. "We were going to set up our teleport generators here, but…"

Py-Kal Vah pushed the commander out of the way before he could finish. Standing in direct light of the rising Solar, he breathed in and let out a blinding red flash of light. When the commander could open his eyes again, he gasped when he saw a portal floating in the air, created by his master.

"Sir how did you…"

"Do it?" Py-Kal Vah laughed. "When you have this much power at your disposal, it's impossible not to be able to do anything and everything." Then he put a hand to his forehead, as if to rid himself of a headache.

"Master, are you okay?" the commander asked, stepping up in case he had a sudden disease.

Py-Kal Vah's head suddenly snapped up to glare at the commander with such intensity it could turn rock into lava. "I'm fine commander. It just seems that this mind is stronger than I suspected. In one and a half years though, it will be completely under my control." Then he craned his neck so his face met with the commander's. "Unless you think me wrong, commander," he said is a voice so cold it could cool plasma into rock.

The unlucky being shuddered and stepped back while saying, "No sir, I do not meet you wrong. Now, shall we get into the portal?"

Straightening his back to his full height, Py-Kal Vah faced the portal. "Call the others. This battle is sure as ours."

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Marcus was sitting around the multi-purpose training/entertainment room rather bored. Sure, having cool new powers were cool, but after a while without anything to do, it got very dull around the ship. _What's the point of having powers if you can't even use them?_ Marcus thought, sighing. _I can't really master them in this confined space, and I don't even know how to access them whenever I want to! Things get confusing when you're a __Cerinian that has a very destructive power that is found in one in a million males._

Then the loudspeaker came on and ROB's monotone voice sounded throughout the Great Fox. "All passengers, report to the docking bay. We will be landing on Corneria in one hour. Repeat, all passengers, report to the docking bay. We will be landing on Corneria in one hour. Thank you and have a nice day."

"YESS!!!!! WE ARE FINALLY HOME!" Marcus shouted out, springing from his seat and dashing to the docking bay. "WE'RE FINALLY GETTING OF THIS ACURSED SHIP!"

Running so fast he missed the weapon chamber, he was about to turn around when he saw a glimpse of Corneria through the cockpit's window, and what he saw astounded him.

Now running over to the cockpit's PDA system, he screamed into the phone, "EVERYONE! REPORT TO THE COCKPIT THIS INSTANT! REPEAT, EVERYONE, REPORT TO THE COCKPIT THIS INSTANT! THIS IS NOT A DRILL AND THIS IS VERY SERIOUS! DON'T COME AT YOUR OWN RISK!" The annoucement was so loud he could hear himself while screaming into the PDA system over his own voice.

People over at the docking bay entrance were startled by the sudden and very eardrum-busting command. Reconizing the voice, they all flocked down to the cockpit wondering what was going on.

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With everyone in the cockpit (which wasn't too many people), Marcus started to talk. "Everyone, I know that's it's been a long trip and everyone wants to go home as much as I do…"

"Ah, get on with it already!" a rude person from the audience shouted. "We don't need a lecture, we need reasons!"

Marcus glared at the person who spoke, who shut up after seeing Marcus's intense glare. "Well, if you're so anxious for me to 'get on with it', look outside the window!" Everyone did, and what he or she saw gave him or her all the same, surprised reaction.

"The...the planet's under attack!" Falco gasped, looking at Corneria like it was turned into a mutant circle with two thousand eyes. "There's a battle going on!"

"Took you a while," Marcus stated quite bluntly. "It's hard to believe we forgot that we went to Corneria because it had the highest damage report. This is most likely because most of the enemy's force is located near there. It is where most of our weaponry comes from, anyway."

One of the few remaining commanders spoke up. "We got the idea. What should we do, Marcus?"

The blue fox looked over his shoulder. "I'll tell what we'll do: we're going to go to our battle positions and fight for Corneria and the Lylat System!"

A loud cheer rose among the crowd, especially from the soldiers. Marcus smirked. _Seems like I got them all motivated. That's good…_ Looking out the window, he continued his thought. _Based on my feelings today, the head honcho is coming out for this fight…_

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Marcus flew around in the Arwing, chasing some squadrons that were harassing a supply ship. Pulling the trigger, he did a boost a shot a short-range plasma laser at them, destroying them instantly. Flying around to see if anyone needed backup, he spotted two enemy battleships headed towards the commanders' ship. Speaking into his communicator, Marcus said, "Marcus here! Backup needed in Sector A-24. Taking down two enemy battleships. Over and out." A group of twenty Cornerian fighters clustered around him after two seconds.

"Everyone into battle formation V! Take down those ship's engines!" The fighters did as told and blasted their way to the engine and dealing some heavy blows, took the two ships down.

_Everything's doing okay…_Marcus thought when he spotted a red portal forming near the center of the battlefield. _Finally: he's here!_ Speeding over to the portal and going solo, he hit the brakes and got ready for the encounter.

Five squadrons flew out of the portal, going faster than the other ones, even the generals. Marcus could barely tell them for blurs as they wet by. _Woah! What were those?_ Then he saw each of them, except for one, fly over to a battleship and dismantle it within a few seconds. Then, like a case of HIV, moved on to the next one.

Suddenly, his Arwing shook. Looking on his radar he saw the last squadron was hammering at his Arwing. Boosting off to a rubble-filed area, Marcus severely hoped that it would get lost within the junkyard. That of course, didn't happen so the squadron continued to fire away and Marcus's Arwing was losing health rapidly.

Now braking, he let the squadron go ahead and then hit its engine with a cluster bomb. Massive damage was dealt, and since one of the junk items was a very flammable object, even more damage was given.

When the dust cleared, the squadron had disappeared; obviously seeking somewhere it could rest for a while and recover its lost hit points. _That isn't such a bad idea_, he thought, flying over where the Great Fox was. _I'll stop at the Great Fox to get repairs and recover from the battle._

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The red portal was still open and Py-Kal Vah flew out. Looking around, he saw that his squadrons were being destroyed one by one. _I'm not going to let them win this battle_, he thought, flying over to where a couple of battleships were. Charging up a giant ball of energy, he threw it at the group. There was a great big flash of red light and all of the ships there and in the surrounding area disintegrated. Looking around, he saw Marcus's Arwing going over to the Great Fox. _Perfect_, Py-Kal Vah thought, flying over there. _This will be perfect._

Breaking through the cockpit's windows, he made a dramatic entrance. The people currently at the cockpit at that time tried to call for help, but Py-Kal Vah grabbed hold of their necks and threw them at the walls so hard that the force injured their spines. _They'll make good recruits for my army…if they survive that long._ Walking down the hall to the docking bay, his footsteps were loud and hallow.

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Marcus got out of his Arwing's cockpit and was surprised by his teammates' appearances. "What are you guys doing here?"

Falco uncrossed his legs from their position. "The same reason you are: taking a break and getting our Arwings repaired." Pointing a thumb at the other ships, he indicated that the other Arwings were just as bad condition as his was.

"Then who's working on them?"

"Over here, Marcus!" Marcus hadn't noticed the two feet poking from under Krystal's Arwing. "You know, when someone doesn't notice me working busily over here, it's really an insult."

"Sorry. You were working so quietly I didn't realize you were there…."

Then the door was slam inward. Everyone froze as the door with a huge dent in the middle went flying over where Slippy was. Then Py-Kal Vah entered the room.

Marcus's eyes grew wide. _That's…that's the creature from my second vision! He must be the leader!_

Scanning the room, the dragon walked over to the group. "Did I scare you?" Everyone nodded. "Good. Now, let me introduce myself. I'm Py-Kal Vah, leader of the forces you saw so many times."

Marcus's eyes grew even wider. _Those words…I feel like I've heard them before…but where?_

The leader saw the blue fox's wide eyes and leaned over. "Marcus is it? You have physic powers, don't you?" Looking over to Krystal, he added, "So does this lady, am I correct?"

Too stunned to move, Marcus could only speak. "H-how did you know?"

Whipping his hand around Marcus's neck, Py-Kal Vah held him up like a fish from the water. "You need not know. Tell me, what do you se when you look into my eyes?"

Staring into them, Marcus hazily answered, "Black emptiness…dark halls…shadow pit…endless hole…" His eyes seem to drift off into the distance.

Krystal suddenly saw what the leader was doing and tried to stop him. "Stop that right now!"

Py-Kal Vah caught her head and threw aside without looking. "Try to stop me. Pretty soon he won't be able to come back from the point of no return…"

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Marcus was feeling like he should stop, but it was impossible…Py-Kal Vah eyes were so deep and so empty…he was about to faint when a voice suddenly reached him. "Marcus, snap out of it!"

Looking around, he saw that a voice had come out of nowhere. "Who said that?" There was no reply.

Then Marcus suddenly realized where he was and what was he doing. _What the heck…I must have been transfixed! I still might be able to get back into my body if I can just focus…_

Krystal was almost at tears. "Marcusssssss!"

Py-Kal Vah smirked. "He can't hear you. He's beyond hope now."

"Is that so?"

Everyone gasped when Marcus's head suddenly lifted up with a smirk. "Marcus!"

"Do you think I would go down that easily?" Marcus said, slipping through Py-Kal Vah's grip.

"Actually, yes. And you will!" the leader shouted, lunging at Marcus and knocking him down to the floor. All of a sudden, the general shot a bolt of electricity and Marcus screamed.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed, and then fainted.

Falco was the first to rush to Marcus. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?"

Py-Kal Vah stood up. "Nothing. All I did was alter his DNA so in exactly one and a half years, his cells will automatically die and with no chance for survival. Unless, of course, you manage to defeat me before that time."

Falco still screamed at him, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?"

Turning around, the leader said, "You can stop this from happening, but you must save every planet and destroy me before one and a half years are up, he will be safe and I will be defeated."

Running down the hallway and breaking through another window, he flew into the night.

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_**DM908: So? What do you think?**_

_**Marcus: 0.0**_

_**DM908: You're terrified, aren't you?**_

_**Marcus: I'M GOING TO DIE IN ONE AND A HALF YEARS? WHAT THE HECK IS THAT ALL ABOUT!?**_

_**DM908: Well, there has to be some twist to it. **_

_**TF: So? What about me?**_

_**DM908: From now on, you'll be know as P-KV, okay?**_

_**P-KV: Fine…**_

_**DM908: Things are going to heat up in this story until things come to a boil…yes sire it will. (Evil cackle)**_

_**Marcus: What was that all about?**_

_**DM908: I'm practicing my "Evil Person" impression. Like it?**_

_**Marcus: Very evil.**_

_**P-KV: So, what was that voice? Even though I'm the character doesn't mean I know everything.**_

_**DM908: That's why I'm keeping it a secret. **__****__** Oh, and sorry for the long delay! Seems like I'm hooked on the Internet…**_

_**Marcus and Falco and Slippy and Krystal and P-KV: Who isn't?**_

_**DM908: Good point. Oh well. See you guys later?**_


End file.
